Windows 8 Consumer Preview Event Scheduled For Feb 29
by Saumitra Bhagwat on February 9, 2012 8:41 AM EST- Posted in
- Microsoft
- Operating Systems
- Windows 8
Windows aficionado Paul Thurrott has just confirmed that the Windows 8 Consumer Preview event will be held in Barcelona, Spain on February 29, 2012. Coming from Mr. Thurrott, we would be inclined to believe that this is not a rumor.
There have been a lot of leaked screenshots of the supposed Consumer Preview build 8220 (or build 8225 if the @BuildWindows8 Twitter feed is to be believed) floating around the interweb these past few days. Some of the more aggressive changes include the disappearance of the iconic Windows Orb, or the Start Button as some of us still lovingly like to call it. Others are more subtle like changes to the Metro-styled start screen and a new translucent UI for Charm bar.
I quite like the Consumer Preview moniker being used this time around. The consumer-centric branding, just like the Building Windows 8 blog, demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to actively communicate progress on the OS and gather feedback from end users and developers.
The Consumer Preview should ideally be a feature-complete release, with future builds focusing on performance, stability and usability enhancements, rather than any major new features.
In any case, the wait shouldn't be too long now.
Source: Supersite for Windows
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faizoff - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
I just reinstalled the developer's preview on my spare SSD last night and didn't realize it took over the boot loader from my main Windows 7 installation.Probably should've just waited for the consumer version to be released.
dagamer34 - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
Yep, gotta be careful. Need to find a way to install the consumer preview on a USB drive without nuking the boot loader on Windows 7 install.Kelemvor - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
That'd be cool. I really want to try Win8 but don't want to have it mess up my Win7 machine. Maybe find a spare hard drive to install it on but that'd be a pain to keep swapping hard drives. Launching it from USB would be cool.B3an - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
Win 8 has the "Windows To Go" feature where you can install and run the whole OS from a USB flash drive. Just plug the drive in to any PC and away you go. Not sure if this is just for the Enterprise / Server version though. But maybe it will be in the Consumer Preview with an easy way to set it up from the new installer menu. Either way, it's a very cool feature and i hope it's in all versions.Andrew.a.cunningham - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
The Windows 7 beta was the Ultimate version, and in Win7 the Ultimate/Enterprise editions are identical except for branding and licensing. If it's an available feature, the Consumer Preview should have it.retrospooty - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
" Need to find a way to install the consumer preview on a USB drive without nuking the boot loader on Windows 7 install."Unplug your hard drive, then do the install. Then plug back in, and choose your boot device manually.
Mr Perfect - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
Yep, had to do just that with the 7 Beta. Otherwise 7 nuked the XP loader. This was one of the things I was hoping they'd improve on this time around. It really shouldn't be messing with other OSes on the PC.faizoff - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
When I installed win 8 dev preview I should've plugged the hard drive out. Last time I installed win 7 beta I did that. I was too lazy to do it this time and looks like my boot loader is taken over by win 8.Going to play around and figure out what to do about it.
Also my Dev preview will not for the life of me shut down. I have to power it down with the power button.
So annoying.
krazyderek - Thursday, February 9, 2012 - link
do the new windows releases not run well in virtual machines likes virtual box, parrallels, vmware etc??arnold58 - Friday, February 10, 2012 - link
BCD should sort out your problems .. at least it did on my win7/winXp/W8. was going to add ubuntu, too much methinks